Neil McEvoy: I was wondering whether the First Minister would accept a tip off me—basically, go into Outlook and press print. Is the First Minister aware of the quite dreadful—dreadful—impression that his Government Ministers are giving the public of Wales, that they feel that they don’t have to declare who they’re meeting with and for what purpose? It’s completely unacceptable that a freedom...
Neil McEvoy: Diolch, Lywydd. I’d like to echo the sentiments made earlier about Bashir Naderi. I realise that the Assembly doesn’t have responsibility for immigration, but we do have responsibility for communities. So, I’m therefore asking that the Government make a statement of support for Bashir, his family, his friends. Bashir came to Wales and lived in Ely very happily for years, integrated very...
Neil McEvoy: I’m a firm believer in equality, but there’s one kind of inequality and one group of people that I’ve not heard mentioned in the Senedd yet, and, in relation to domestic abuse, that is men. I agree with Erin Pizzey, the founder of the first women’s refuge in the UK, and she says that domestic abuse isn’t gender-specific, it applies to both genders, because both males and females can...
Neil McEvoy: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on the promotion of touch rugby in schools? OAQ(5)0048(EDU).
Neil McEvoy: Thanks. The Wales Touch Association are the junior European champions; they won at the championship in the summer. The under-18s have won the championship three years running, which is amazing. It’s a great sport to improve handling skills; and it’s big in the southern hemisphere. My question, really, is about the WJEC, and I’m wondering if you could possibly help out. Touch rugby is...
Neil McEvoy: In light of the imminent possible removal of Bashir Naderi from the UK next Tuesday, will the Minister consider making representations to stop this from happening? EAQ(5)0063(CC)
Neil McEvoy: Will the Minister make a statement on Welsh Government financial support for business?
Neil McEvoy: A lot has been said about questionable grant support through the Welsh Government—the land sales, such as Lisvane, where the public purse lost £39 million. Do you agree that investment in serious fraud prevention in the Assembly through the channels that exist will probably yield a profit for the taxpayer?
Neil McEvoy: I know that immigration isn’t a devolved matter, but communities are, so hence you’re taking the question, and I’m really pleased that the statement of opinion is going from the Assembly; that is really important. But I think if the Government were to make a statement then that would make the case even stronger, and that’s why we’re elected: to stand up for the people of Wales. So,...
Neil McEvoy: First of all, I’d like to thank you for raising this as a debate today. We don’t leave soldiers behind on the battlefield, and we shouldn’t leave them behind when they come home. A ‘leave no soldier behind’ Act was something that I campaigned on during the election. Many soldiers serve, they go through trauma, some are injured, and some unfortunately don’t come back. Those that...
Neil McEvoy: I couldn’t speak a word of Welsh until I was 32 years of age, and I started to learn Welsh when I was a teacher, because, in my school, there weren’t enough Welsh teachers available to teach children for the Estyn inspection. I went to the university in Lampeter and followed a Wlpan course over two months, and taught Welsh within a week of finishing the course. As a language teacher,...
Neil McEvoy: In twenty-first century Wales, the majority welcome bilingualism. And I’ll tell you what, when we take over that council next year, we’ll make sure everybody has a choice. The twentieth century was when the language was used to divide people; the twenty-first century will be the century when the Welsh language unites people, and, in a world like today’s, that is very, very important....
Neil McEvoy: There are two statements I’ll be asking for. Firstly, I attended two public meetings in Butetown on Friday and there’s a lot of anger in the community because, a stone’s throw away from this Assembly, people are injecting, there are hundreds of discarded needles lying around, in some cases children playing with them, and there are class A drugs being dealt openly. So, can the Government...
Neil McEvoy: Wales really is a country of legends, but, far too often, they are overlooked. I’ve mentioned in here a couple of times Billy Boston, the Tiger bay legend, but nothing’s been done about it. Hopefully that can change. Before each sporting international, we will sing ‘Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri’, and it's clear that Wales is a land of poets, singers and famous people of...
Neil McEvoy: I’m really surprised to hear the Minister say that it’s not in chaos, really. I think that’s, basically, perfectly evident. As you’re stood here today, more than half of landlords have not registered. So, my question is: will you extend the deadline to avoid criminalising decent, hard-working people?
Neil McEvoy: Talk really is cheap, and I wonder how you marry the contradiction between what is said in this Chamber and the fact that play centre after play centre has been closed by your party in my region. In Cardiff, Grangetown Play Centre’s been under threat for years; we have the Cardiff Central Youth Club and the play clubs around that under threat—well, basically, told that they’re going to...
Neil McEvoy: I said last week in this Chamber that class A drugs were being sold openly within a stone’s throw of this Assembly, and that a 13-year-old girl, in a public meeting, said that she was frightened to go out because of the drug dealers. We’re in a situation where front-line police officers don’t have the resources to do the job properly and the commissioner is invisible. When will the...
Neil McEvoy: God, this Government does like its hype, doesn't it? Including ‘groundbreaking legislation’: well, I think the only thing that I see groundbreaking in this is the complete incompetence with the implementation of this. It talks about a fit-and-proper test and, importantly, training. Well, it's a pity that that is not extended to Ministers. It was estimated that there were 130,000 landlords...
Neil McEvoy: I'm trying to find it. Because, if you look—oh, it’s the next sheet. If you look at what is online, it amounts to 60 pages of A4 text followed by a multiple-choice exam. There are no videos, there are few examples, there are few case studies, there are no diagrams, there's no interactive content. Now, this is really important, Minister, because, in other words, it breaches the Welsh...
Neil McEvoy: As somebody who has worked with female victims of domestic abuse and supported them, I welcome most of the statement. I am concerned at a lack of regulation in the sector, which means that some people fall through the gaps, and those people have ended up in my office. On occasion, it’s been very difficult to get children’s services to listen to victims, and the way that they’ve been...
